Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Papercuts is an American indie pop project centered around Jason Robert Quever. The Bay Area native's one-man project began as a folkier relative to friends and tourmates Grizzly Bear and Beach House, bands also making smeary, drifting pop music informed by psychedelic harmonies of the 1960s. But unlike Beach House's Victoria Legrand's vocal smoke or the high-wire melodicism of both Grizzly Bear's Ed Droste and Daniel Rossen, Quever breathes more than he sings, as though he isn't sure whether he wants you to hear him at all. At times, the very bigness of Fading Parade's sound nearly overwhelms Quever's wisp of a voice, but his songwriting is as strong as ever. The album is bookended by tracks that celebrate the pleasures of love and illusion and waking from those dreams and starting over. Fading Parade might be subtle, but it’s obviously another step forward for Quever and company.